Fire in the Blood E-Book

Megan Lee

• Herausgeber: Michelle Love
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

I’ve got billions and a broken life, all because she said no when I needed her most.
My ex-wife took my daughter, trashed my name, and left me hollow—until the lawyer who ditched me comes crawling back.
She’s a knockout, sharp as hell, and promising to win my kid back.
I should hate her, but one look and I’m lost.
The heat between us burns fast—too fast—and I’m hooked.
My ex is a psycho who’ll stop at nothing to bury us, and the stakes are skyrocketing.
I’ll fight for my little girl and this woman driving me wild, but when the threats turn deadly, I wonder if love’s worth the war—or if it’ll destroy us both.

Keywords: billionaire, bad boy, alpha romance, second chance romance, steamy romance, contemporary romance, love books, love stories, new adult, alpha male, romance, action, adventure, steamy romance, small-town secrets, hot, alpha hero, sweet romance, romantic novels, sexually romantic books, guaranteed HEA, no cliffhangers, happily ever after.

Leseprobe

Fire in the Blood

A Billionaire Single Daddy Romance - Their Secret Desire Book two

Michelle Love

Megan Lee

Contents

Blurb

1. Chapter One - Praying

2. Chapter Two – Waiting Game

3. Chapter Three – Dreaming with a Broken Heart

4. Chapter Four – Hello

5. Chapter Five – My Blood

6. Chapter Six – Seven Devils

7. Chapter Seven – I Wanna Be Yours

8. Chapter Eight – It’s Definitely You

9. Chapter Nine – Stressed Out

10. Chapter Ten – Make Me Feel

11. Chapter Eleven – Breathe

12. Chapter Twelve – Humble

13. Chapter Thirteen – Wires

14. Chapter Fourteen – Song to the Siren

15. Chapter Fifteen – What Kind of Man?

16. Chapter Sixteen – So Far Away

17. Chapter Seventeen – Wherever I Go

18. Chapter Eighteen – Never Be The Same

19. Chapter Nineteen – Take Me Home

20. Chapter Twenty – Am I Wrong

21. Chapter Twenty-One – Big Girls Cry

22. Chapter Twenty-Two – All Night

23. Chapter Twenty-Three – House of Cards

24. Chapter Twenty-Four – Faded

25. Chapter Twenty-Five – Across the Universe

Sneak Peek - Chapter one Everything Changes

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©Copyright 2020 by Michelle Love & Megan Lee - All rights Reserved

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights are reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

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Blurb

Entertainment lawyer Jess Olden is single again after a break-up and ready to meet someone new, but when her best friend singer India Blue is seriously injured, Jess’s own life is put on hold as she waits to hear if her best friend will survive.

Losing her concentration at work means she misses out on the biggest divorce case Hollywood has seen in years. Movie star Teddy Hood has left his wife of six years, Dorcas Prettyman, and she’s intent on making his life hell. Teddy approaches Jess, seeking the best lawyer out there, but distracted by her personal life, Jess turns him down and then watches as his reputation and life is destroyed by his ex.

When India pulls through and starts recovery, Jess returns her focus to her work and feels guilty for what happened to Teddy Hood. Determined to right a wrong, she contacts him and offers to help him regain custody of his young daughter. At first, he is resistant, too damaged by his legal and personal ordeal, but when they meet, there is an immediate attraction.

Trying to remain professional is difficult for them both, and soon Teddy and Jess are falling into a red-hot sexual relationship that leaves wanting more.

However, Dorcas is not a woman to be messed with, and soon she is making life hell for Jess and Teddy in more ways than one. Will the two lovers finally be able to love freely, and will Teddy ever get custody of his daughter?

When Dorcas crosses a line, more than just love is put at risk as she makes it clear that she will never, ever let Teddy find happiness again…

Jess

Nothing mattered to me more in the last year than putting the man who tried to kill my best friend in jail.

Nothing.

So, when Hollywood star Teddy Hood asked me to represent him in his child custody battle, I had to turn him down.

Now, a year later, I’ve never regretted anything more.

Teddy Hood is angry, hurt… and sexy as all hell.

The trouble is he hates me.

The trouble is I can’t stop thinking about him.

I have to get him to forgive me and I’ll do anything to make that happen.

Because I need him in my life… and in my bed.

I want to feel his skin next to mine, his mouth on my body, his kiss on my lips…

I just have to get him to talk to me first and that…

That’s going to be the hardest thing in the world…

Teddy

She turned me down a year ago and now I’ve lost custody of my kid, maybe forever.

I hate Jessica Olden and I don’t care that it’s not fair to blame her…

…but I do.

But it drives me mad that I can’t get her out of my head: her big beautiful eyes, her dark hair, that perfect pink, pouty mouth…

Jess Olden is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’m one of Hollywood’s biggest stars—hey, I could have any woman I want.

Any woman.

But the one I want is the one I don’t want.

I need to get her out of my head…

…it just won’t be easy…

1

Chapter One - Praying

Manhattan

Jess Olden ignored her phone and waited for Margot to arrive at the restaurant. She hated this, hated it every time she broke up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, but this one was a particularly painful split. For a while there, she had thought Margot was the one: smart, funny, successful.

They had planned a future together without ever discussing whether they actually wanted the same things, and when Margot had tearfully confessed to Jess that she wanted the whole white picket fence and two-point-five kids thing, Jess knew it was over.

Not that she had any problem with that dream—it just wasn’t for her. She hated the idea of marriage, and she’d never wanted kids. Something to do with her own upbringing…

“Hey, gorgeous.” Margot was standing by her elbow when Jess looked around.

Margot’s eyes were soft and sad, and as Jess stood to kiss her hello, they hugged for a beat too long. Finally, both silent with emotion, they sat and ordered, sitting quietly until the waiter brought them their wine.

Margot reached across the table and interlaced her fingers with Jess’s. “I keep waking up in the night thinking this is a mistake. Maybe I was wrong; maybe it was just panic that made me say those things.”

Jess smiled, but gently removed her hand. “We both know it wasn’t, baby. It wasn’t. It hurts like to hell to admit it, but…”

“God, Jess…”

“I know.”

Neither of them ate much; they lightly talked around the fact that they were in pain, but towards the end of the meal, Margot’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded. “You’re right. We want different things.”

“We do.” Jess wasn’t someone who cried, especially not in public, but she felt her eyes fill. “But I do love you, Margie. Never forget that.”

“I love you, too.” Margot’s voice cracked, and she looked down as Jess’s phone began to ring incessantly. “Answer that. It’s driving me crazy.”

Jess touched her hand as she answered the call. “Yes?”

“Jessie?”

“Lazlo?” She was immediately alert. Lazlo never called this late unless it was something serious. At first, she couldn’t understand him, he was sobbing so hard, then when she caught the words ‘Carter’ and ‘India’ and worse still, ‘stabbed,’ her entire body went cold. “Lazlo, breathe. Tell me.”

“She went to LeFevre; that’s where she was hiding out. We think he was in league with Carter. Carter took her, Jess. We just found her. He stabbed her, again, Jess! Again!”

The breath froze in her lungs. “Is she…” Please God, no, please don’t let her be dead…

“No. They’re flying her to Lennox Hill now, but she’s in bad shape. We’re in another chopper on the way.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

Margot looked up as Jess stood. “What is it, babe?”

“It’s India. Carter caught up with her. She’s hurt.” Jess felt her throat close as the shock of what had happened hit her. Margot caught her as her knees gave way. “Come on. I’ll drive you.”

They arrived at the hospital before the helicopter carrying India, and they had to wait around while the place was being locked down by the FBI and Lazlo’s security team. Jess overheard the doctor saying the helicopter had arrived, and before anyone could stop her, she took the elevator to the roof.

They were rolling the gurney over to the lift just as she arrived, and Jess couldn’t help her cry of distress when she saw her friend. India was covered in blood, deathly pale and unconscious. “Indy!” Jess darted to her friend’s side as the paramedics shot her an annoyed look.

“She’s my friend,” she stuttered, resisting them from trying to push her aside. She grasped India’s cold hand as they hurried into the elevator.

“We’re taking her straight to surgery.” One of the nurses took pity on the distraught woman. “We can’t stop the bleeding.”

The sheet covering India’s abdomen was soaked with blood, and Jess clutched her hand tighter. “You have to fight, Indy, fight! Live! Don’t let him win, please.”

“Ma’am, please step aside now. We need to get her to surgery.”

In a daze, Jess let go of India’s hand as they arrived on the surgical floor, and she slowly followed the gurney out until she could no longer move. Margot found her standing stock-still, staring into space, and steered her into the relatives’ waiting room.

Jess had pulled herself together by the time Lazlo and India’s lover, Massimo, arrived at the hospital. She quickly told them what she had discovered, leaving out the most gruesome parts.

“He did it,” Massimo kept repeating, a man in total shock.

Lazlo was pale and Jess hugged him. “We have to be positive.” She took a deep breath in. “What happened to Carter?”

“She killed him.”

“Oh, thank God.” Jess felt her body relax. Braydon Carter had relentlessly stalked India after she survived his rape and stabbing and the murder of her mother in front of her twelve years prior. A few days previous to today’s horror, he had shot one of India’s closest friends, a sweet young kid called Sun, who was still recovering in a hospital in Seoul.

Jess rubbed her eyes. “Listen, I hate to be the practical one at a time like this, but we need to get ahead of this in the press. From what you told me, LeFevre is going to try and obfuscate responsibility as long as India is unconscious. I need to get a press statement ready.”

“Jesus, Jess…”

“I know, but this is what we do, Laz, and you’re in no fit state. Let me just check that they haven’t got it already.”

She flicked on the television in the waiting room and flicked to the news channels. To her relief, none had picked up the story yet; most of them were concerned with the newly announced divorce of movie stars Teddy Hood and Dorcas Prettyman, the Hollywood power couple for the last ten years. The divorce had come out of nowhere and mud was already being slung, mostly by Prettyman’s team. Jess rolled her eyes. She’d had previous run-ins with Dorcas Prettyman and found her to be a vile attention seeker with little regard for anyone else.

Hood she didn’t know, but she already had no sympathy for anyone voluntarily involved themselves with Dorcas. Jess flicked off the television and went to work.

An hour later, she saw the press gathering at the hospital entrance. She and Lazlo wrote a short statement, and Jess went down to read it, glaring at the surrounding journalists.

“Earlier this evening, India Blue was abducted by Braydon Carter, the man who twelve years ago attacked and seriously injured India and murdered her mother. During the ensuing struggle, Braydon Carter was killed, and India suffered serious abdominal injuries. She is currently in emergency surgery. We’ll give you an update later, but in the meantime, we ask you respect both India’s and her family’s privacy and remember there are many other sick people and their families here who deserve their privacy as well. Thank you.”

Jess ignored the flood of questions that exploded as soon as she finished speaking and went back into the hospital. God. She felt sick at this whole thing, mainly because of the inevitability of it all. Carter was always going to get to India, wasn’t he? Obsession like that was unstoppable. Jess shivered. After her break-up with Margot, she could do with some serious alone-time, away from other people’s shit. Not that Margot was ever toxic. She saw her approaching now and hugged her. “Thank you for being here, Margie. I don’t know what I would have done.”

Margot smiled at her. “You would have done just fine, my little tigress.” She raised her hand to stroke Jess’s face, then let it drop, realizing it was no longer appropriate to do. Jess felt a pang of sadness. Never again would she wake up to Margot’s soft, gentle kiss.

“I should go now,” Margot said, “give you all some privacy, but listen. Keep me up to date, right? And you need anything, anything, I’m here for you.”

Jess went back upstairs after saying goodbye to Margot and found Massimo alone in the waiting room. He looked wrecked. “Lazlo has gone to make some phone calls. He got a message from Tae. The news has broken in Seoul. They’re making the link between India and Sun’s shooting, so this thing’s gone international now.”

“Any news from the surgeon?”

Massimo shook his head. “Not yet.”

The television was flickering on the wall, the sound muted, and Jess watched as the news shifted from the Hood/Prettyman divorce to outside of Lennox Hill. She and Massimo watched her statement to the press, then it cut to a package of India performing and doing interviews. They also managed to rehash the Rome scandal, the nude photographs taken by a snoop paparazzi of India and Massimo making love. So much for respecting India, Jess thought grimly.

Massimo gave a choked laugh. “God, how beautiful does she look? Why would anyone want to destroy it?”

Jess put her hand on his shoulder. “Sick fucks will always be sick fucks, Massi. He’s gone. He can’t hurt her anymore.”

Massimo nodded. “If she lives. Otherwise… he won.”

“She will live,” Jess said fiercely, hurt and anger in her voice. “There’s no way India would give up now. Did you hear what she did to him? She wanted to live, Massi. For you, for Sun, for her Mom. For herself. She wanted to live. She’s not going to give up now.”

For the first time there was a faint smile on Massimo’s handsome face. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

“Look, why don’t I go get us some coffee and maybe something to eat? We’re no good to India if we collapse from hunger and thirst.”

Jess patted his shoulder and went out of the room. She walked down the stairs to the cafeteria, hoping it was open this late, but as she came to the bottom of the stairwell, she stopped and bent double, trying to quell her sudden urge to scream, to cry, to indulge in everything her broken heart wanted to do. She sank to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and took several deep breaths. Don’t. Don’t lose it now. This isn’t about you.

She took a deep lungful. India will live. Believe what you told Massimo.

“Yes,” she said quietly to herself, “yes. She’ll be fine. She’ll be okay.”

As she pulled herself to her feet, Jess told herself the same thing again and again, ignoring the simmering fear inside her that her friend might be too far gone this time.

2

Chapter Two – Waiting Game

Los Angeles

Teddy Hood stood in the empty house on Mulholland Drive and shook his head. Dorcas had finally agreed to selling their home, and now that she had finally moved her stuff out, the house was ready to be handed over to the new owner, an excited young actor who’d made his first million and wanted the now-legendary Hood/Prettyman mansion for himself.

Good. Let him have it. Teddy Hood was tired. Tired of the fighting, of the divorce, of Hollywood. Of Dorcas’s spite.

He checked his watch. He would have to leave now to get to his supervised visit time with his daughter, DJ. His mood lightened at the thought of seeing his darling tomboy daughter, only six and yet so headstrong. The only downside was…

Supervised visits. He swallowed the anger that the restriction riled in him. Damn you, Dorcas, and your lies. She’d made a big deal of his ‘temper’ to the press, and then to the custody judge who had been starstruck by her and had taken against Teddy. Unfairly, too, but Dorcas had the upper hand in the divorce and she knew it.

She knew way too much about Teddy’s past. All of it: the early days of his acting career and what he had been put through. The stuff of nightmares and nothing he wanted out in the world. Nothing. And Dorcas had been gleeful when she told him that she would think nothing of revealing everything if she didn’t come out as the ‘winner’ in their divorce.

He was just grateful she finally agreed to it. The face that the caring ‘humanitarian’ Dorcas Prettyman showed to the world was in sharp contrast to the destructive narcissist she actually was.

It had fooled him for a few years, too.

Teddy got into his car and drove across the city, glancing in the mirror to check he didn’t look too grungy. He’d been growing his dark brown beard out, not to hipster lengths, but so it covered his handsome face enough that he felt as if he had a mask on. Of course, his brilliant cornflower blue eyes would always give him away, but that wasn’t the point. He didn’t want to be ‘Teddy Hood,’ pretty-boy movie star anymore… he wanted out of the game entirely.

No more Hollywood. God, what an appealing idea.

When he arrived at Dorcas’s new ‘rental,’ a behemoth that was costing him nearly a quarter of a million a month, the supervisor greeted him and led him in. “We’ve had a bit of an upset,” she whispered to him. The supervisor, Fliss, unlike the judge, had seen through Dorcas immediately and adored Teddy—not for his reputation, but for the way he was with DJ.

“What happened?”

“Mommy wanted DJ to wear a dress for some press photos. DJ had other ideas.” Fliss, a non-nonsense middle-aged Englishwoman, tried to hide a grin. “Oh, DJ put on a dress but halfway through the photos, ripped it off. Underneath she had a Never Mind the Bollocks shirt on. Mommy wasn’t pleased.”

Teddy grinned widely. “How the hell did she get her hands on that?”

Fliss opened her eyes wide in innocence. “Can I help it if I leave my laptop open on Amazon.com?”

“You are a bad, bad influence. But thank you,” he patted her back, laughing. “So, I take it Dorcas went into one of her screaming jags?”

“Yup. She’s now in bed with one of her heads.”

Teddy rolled his eyes in unison with Fliss. “Good.”

In the living room, DJ looked up with pure joy as her father entered the room and flew into his arms. She looked cheerful enough. “Did Fliss tell you?”

“She did. You are a bad, bad child, Dinah-Jane.”

“Then why are you smiling, Daddy?” DJ grinned widely at him and threw her arms around his neck. “How long can you stay tonight?”

Teddy shot a look at Fliss who made a face. “Just the usual hour, Monkey.”

DJ’s face fell. “Oh.”

Teddy hugged his daughter tightly. “It’ll get better soon, I swear it will. In the meantime, let’s not waste any time moping, hey?”

DJ rallied, smiled, and they played together for an hour, laughing and joking around.

Teddy hated saying goodbye; it was the only time DJ got teary, but tonight, she clung on even more. “Can’t I come live with you, Daddy? I promise I’ll be good.”

Teddy’s heart shattered. “Monkey, you don’t know how much I wish you could. I wish, I wish, I wish you could.”

He hated to leave her crying, but Dorcas was fierce about him leaving exactly on the hour. As he walked out of the mansion, he heard his ex-wife calling to him. Bunching his hands into fists to stop himself breaking down in front of her, he turned.

Dorcas Prettyman had always relied on her good looks for everything in life. The daughter of a screen legend herself, her path to stardom was also eased by her spectacular looks, silky dark hair, and silver eyes. When she had been younger, her body was the stuff of legend, Jessica-Rabbit curves, but once she had built a reputation not just as an actress but as a charity maven, she had simply stopped eating. Teddy also suspected she was using but could never find proof. Dorcas could run classes on how to hide a person’s vices.

A title which, of all people, Dorcas Prettyman was least entitled. She would host benefits but would ask an extortionate fee to do it and insist on NDAs for everyone. Anyone that crossed her was met with a tsunami of spite so vicious it could leave someone speechless for days. She was, quite simply, terrifying.

And now in her mid-forties, her looks were starting to fade, her dark hair was now dyed an unflattering straw-blonde, and younger, prettier, easier to work with actresses were taking the roles she had always expected to be offered. Rather than move into character roles like her contemporaries, she began to write her own roles… which were not well-received. Dorcas had become a laughingstock behind the scenes in Hollywood, and Teddy had borne the brunt of her rage.

She hadn’t started to beat him until DJ was three years old. It was on the night of the Oscars and nominee Dorcas had been passed over for an actress she hated. The actress in question, Tiger Rose, had won Best Actress for a film starring opposite Teddy and their onscreen chemistry had been the talk of Hollywood.

Dorcas, of course, immediately suspected they had been fucking, despite Teddy’s denials. Unlike most Hollywood husbands, he had remained faithful, even through the last few years when any love between him and Dorcas had been minimal.

Teddy was dead on his feet, having taken a red-eye flight back from a film set in the Ukraine the previous day. He’d supported Dorcas on the red carpet, of course, and commiserated when she had lost. Of course, he had to applaud his costar for her own win, and that had set Dorcas off. In the limousine on the way home, she had practically screamed at him, blaming him for her loss.

He had gone to sleep in the guest room, eager to fend off any further argument, but in the early hours, he had been rocked awake by searing pain as Dorcas beat him with an empty vodka bottle. It smashed across his brow eventually, and Teddy had been left with a scar above his right eye.

It was all hushed up, of course, and Teddy declined to press charges for DJ’s sake. Dorcas had been repentant… that time. She never made the mistake of hitting him where it showed again. Teddy, his male pride more than dented, made a show of putting up with her moods, never telling anyone how miserable he was, but inevitably, rumors started. A former nanny to DJ, whom Dorcas had verbally abused, broke her NDA and sold a story to the press of Dorcas’s moods and how whipped Teddy was. Teddy was humiliated.

But it wasn’t until his beloved younger brother Billy had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor did Teddy see the light. As Billy wasted away in hospital, he begged his older brother, Teddy, not to waste any more time. “She’s poison,” Billy had said, his honesty forthright because he had nothing to lose. “She always has been. Teddy, please, take DJ and go. You’ll both be happier.”

Teddy told Dorcas he was leaving her the evening of Billy’s funeral. She reacted as expected, laughing in his face, not taking him seriously.

She soon found out he was deadly serious and went into damage control mode. Nannies, bodyguards were all paid off to say he was a bad father and neglectful. Dorcas was clever—she never outright said he was abusive—that would be very hard to prove, because he was the farthest thing from it, but she started a whisper campaign. Going into one of her saintly martyr modes, she gave interviews where she would espouse how hard it was for a single mother out there, how she barely had time to shower because of it, that she cared little for the trappings of fame—all while renting a beautiful mansion and making Teddy pay for it.

Teddy drove home now, his heart heavy at leaving DJ, and when he got to the small apartment he had rented—private, out of the way, and nowhere a movie star was expected to live—he took his jacket off and slumped onto the sofa. He flicked the news on, expecting to hear more about himself and Dorcas, but instead saw a beautiful woman speaking outside a hospital building, surrounded by press. He turned the television up.

“During the ensuing struggle, Braydon Carter was killed, and India suffered serious abdominal injuries. She is currently in emergency surgery. We’ll give you an update later, but in the meantime, we ask you respect both India’s and her family’s privacy and remember there are many other sick people and their families here who deserve their privacy as well. Thank you.”

Jesus. India Blue was hurt? Teddy felt a pang of sadness. He didn’t know the singer well, had only met her a couple of times, but she was a sweetheart, a rare talent. Teddy watched as the spokeswoman walked back into the hospital. She looked tired and distressed, but still walked with purpose and with confidence. The reporter at the scene identified her as India’s lawyer, Jess Olden.

Jess Olden… Teddy had definitely heard of her; in fact, she was legendary in Hollywood circles for winning the best possible outcomes for her clients in savage, bitter battles regarding alimony, property, and more importantly, custody.

An idea formed in his mind, but he put it aside for now. Jess Olden was clearly devastated by her friend’s attempted murder, and now wouldn’t be the ideal time to ask if she could take him on.

But when—and if—India Blue made it, and Teddy hoped she would, he would approach Jess Olden. Ask for her help.

Because he wanted his daughter back for more than a supervised hour every two days, and he had the strangest idea that Jess Olden was the right person to help him.

And it had nothing, nothing at all to do with the fact that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Nothing.

3

Chapter Three – Dreaming with a Broken Heart

New York

Jess didn’t cry until Lazlo told her that India was awake, that her beloved friend was going to make it. Then, glad to be alone in her apartment, she was able to bawl, to sob out her utter relief. She let all her emotions out, finally hiccupping to a halt and cranking on the shower. She let the water run down her body for longer than usual, hoping to ease some of the muscle ache.

After drying her hair and dressing, she grimaced as she glanced into the mirror. Her dark hazel eyes were puffy, thick violet circles underneath them, and her usually glowing skin was wan.

“Nope, not a good look.” She decided she would work from home today before going to the hospital. Lazlo had told her that although India was awake, she was exhausted, unsurprisingly, and that the doctor had advised no more than two visitors at a time. Jess knew India would want her brother and her lover with her, so she agreed to provide relief later. She couldn’t wait to hold her friend though.

Lazlo also told her that India had positively identified her politician father as the one who had instigated her attempted murder, and Jess went into work mode, contacting the police and finding out what charges were being brought against Philip LeFevre. She also wanted to make absolutely sure that India would not face any charges for killing Braydon Carter, the man who had been so obsessed with her that he had almost killed her twice.

The District Attorney reassured her. “It was self-defense, pure and simple. There will be no charges filed against India, I can assure you. As for LeFevre, at least one count of murder for India’s mother, three counts of attempted murder, but really, Jess, I could be here for hours reciting what we’re going to charge that son-of-a-bitch with. He’s going away forever.”

“To think he almost ran for president.”

The DA had laughed humorlessly. “I’d say he would have never gotten in, but apparently, right now, anything goes.”

“Right? What a world.”

Jess called her Los Angeles office to update them on India’s condition, smiling when she heard their relief. “There’s a long way to go yet, but it’s good news.” She heard her assistant, Bee, relay the news to the others in the office and heard their cries of delight. There was a reason India was so popular both with her fans and those she worked with.

Jess smiled. “Listen, I’m going to be here in New York for the foreseeable future. I’m going to help the DA send Philip LeFevre down, so as of now, no new clients whoever they might be. We will, of course, keep working with our existing client list, and I’ll fly back and forth, but as I say, no newbies.”

“Sure thing, boss. Give our love to India when you see her, won’t you?”

Jess smiled. “Of course. Thanks, Bee.”

She snagged her laptop from the bedroom and sat down to work, keeping half an eye on the television news in case anything leaked about India that they didn’t want out there.

Since the news that India was awake was made public, the ardor outside the hospital had died down a little, but it didn’t stop some of the more gutter-like press from trying to get in to see her. Jess smirked when she remembered Massimo, half-crazed with grief, discovering a pap hovering outside the door of India’s room. The whole floor knew of Massimo’s anger that day. Jess wondered how he was coping.

She picked up the phone and made a call. In Seoul, Tae picked up and greeted her, sounding more cheerful than for a while. “Hi, Jessie.”

“Hey, Tae. How’s Sun?”

“Comparing scars with another patient at the moment—it’s the cutest thing. Well, if seeing your lover with a hole in his chest can be described as cute.” His breath hitched a little, and Jess could tell he was trying to keep from screaming at that thought. He rallied and chuckled softly. “Honestly, nothing can keep this little angel down. How’s Indy?”